A/N: Well, I hadn’t intended to do a sequel. I thought of ‘Socks’ as a one-shot. But ginnysohma decided to point out that I left Ginny’s hex out of the story. Then PhoenixFire suggested that a sequel would be nice. Oh, I guess I should add hwhimsey here, too; she, after all, told me I needed to do more (though she was probably talking about a different story). This story is decidedly AU, especially after DH, but it’s meant to be a bit of fun, so I hope you enjoy it anyway. And btw, if you haven’t read ‘Socks,’ it might help if you go read it first. Please review —your feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Two children lay on the floor before the hearth, playing a game. As Lily Potter contemplated her next move, the dark-haired boy lying next to her surreptitiously reached over and began, slowly and painstakingly, inching her sock off her foot. He had already managed to get the sock off her other foot. He was surprised at how easy it had been. He must have some special talent at nicking socks, but while it might be fun for pranking, he couldn’t imagine any truly useful purpose that it could be put to.
A clatter from the kitchen startled Jimmy Potter. The momentary loss of focus caused him to tug the sock off of his sister’s foot. He swore mentally, knowing he would be caught. His sister never liked it when he took her socks. Jimmy wondered about that. Daddy never seems to mind when Mummy takes his socks.
The little red-haired girl stopped the game the two of them were playing and rounded on him. ‘James Ronald Potter, you had better give my socks back right now.’ Her green eyes flashed. She may have inherited his father’s hair and eye colour, but it was her mother’s temper showing now.
The red-haired, chocolate-eyed boy began to back away from his sister, but it was too late. Suddenly she was atop him, pinning him to the floor. Before he could do anything, Jimmy felt his arm being twisted around behind his back as his sister struggled to get the sock out of his hand.
‘Ouch,’ Jimmy yelped. ‘Geroff!’ He had a rug burn etched across his forehead.
‘Not until you give back my socks. There, I’ve got that one.’ Then she shifted over to get at the sock in his other hand.
With his face pressed sideways to the floor, he could just see the smirk on his father’s face. He heard footsteps and saw his mother’s feet come into the room from the kitchen. He twisted his head to look up and gulped when he saw the more serious expression on her face. She stood watching him and his sister a moment before turning to look at his father. ‘I suppose you think this is humorous, Harry.’
‘They’re just horsing around as children do. It’s not hurting anything.’
‘It’s not things I’m worried about, luv.’
Jimmy squirmed out of his sister’s grasp, his shirt pulled over his head in the process. Before he could pull himself back together, the green-eyed girl pounced again. The two tumbled across the floor, his sister struggling to get her hands on a sock, he attempting in vain to retain possession of it.
His mother turned her attention from her husband back to the children. ‘Lily Hermione Potter, let your brother alone this instant. Your behaviour is not at all becoming a young lady.’
His father guffawed loudly at that last remark. ‘Now isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black? I bet you were just the perfect model of lady-like behaviour growing up, weren’t you?’
Jimmy could see his father’s eyebrows wagging at his mother. Jimmy saw him cringe a bit as she turned to glare at him. ‘That’s not the point, and you know it.’
‘I was just remembering a few occasions when Molly stood just like you are, with a different young girl standing before her.’
Jimmy saw his mother’s face break out into a grin. ‘Oh, you, you’re no help.’
As his parents continued their discussion, Jimmy decided a strategic retreat was in order. ‘Here, take it, Lily. Just leave me alone.’
His sister smirked in triumph as she tugged the socks back on her feet.
‘Just like your mother.’ He heard their father chuckle from his chair.
‘Why do you say that, Daddy? I thought you said Mummy was always good at stealing socks. That would make me like her, wouldn’t it?’
‘Yes, Harry, do explain,’ Ginny chimed in, a little too sweetly.
“Yes, Bub, that would. But she’s like her, too. She’s got a bit of a temper.’ Harry glanced a bit worriedly at his wife. ‘But, more importantly, she doesn’t let the men in her life forget how well she can take care of herself – just like your mum did with me.’
His sister piped up, ‘What did Mum do with you, Daddy? Did she give you a rug burn, too, like I gave Jimmy? Tell us about it.’
Harry laughed. ‘No, Sweetie, it wasn’t a rug burn your mother gave me. . . .’
Ginny interrupted. ‘Harry, you’re not going to tell that story, are you? That was not one of my finer moments.’
Harry winked at his wife and continued, ‘It was the hex of my life. . . .’
A/N: I want to thank Sherylyn for her hard work in betaing this. Everyone, please give her a round of applause for all she does for PS. I also want to thank hwimsey for again taking the time to read and comment. These two challenged me to make this story much better than I first wrote it. Any weaknesses that remain are due to my own stubbornness and ineptitude.
As this was written before DH, my depictions of James and Lily are not quite canon. I had envisioned them as twins at first – certainly closer in age than in canon. Originally ‘my’ Lily had black hair, because it just seems right to me that in that aspect they reflect the opposite-sex parent.